Chapter 146: Trouble Over the Private Plot — Zhou Sinian, What is This?!

The next morning, early, after finishing breakfast, the two of them went to the head captain's house.

His family had also finished eating long ago. The others were continuing to turn the soil in the backyard, while Liu Dachun and Liu Laifu were cleaning the stables in the front yard.

As Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian walked in, a cheerful neigh came from the stable.

The horse: Ah! The bipedal creature that gives me sweet fruits is here! Come on! Come on! The hair on my tail is ready!

Ming Dai looked at the excessively excited horse inside the stable, feeling somewhat puzzled.

After letting out a neigh, the horse suddenly executed a 180-degree horizontal turn, thrusting its large rump out of the stable while furiously shaking its tail in a rather abnormal manner.

Ming Dai mentally flipped through her veterinary books but could not find a corresponding medical condition.

"Little Comrade Ming, wait a moment. We'll carry the horse manure to the backyard and then we'll be right over."

Ming Dai nodded and stood outside with Zhou Sinian to watch.

Receiving no response, the horse inside the stable turned around again, looked at Zhou Sinian by the door, blinked its eyes, and tapped its hooves lightly, making a pattering sound to catch Zhou Sinian's attention.

Unfortunately, Zhou Sinian was entirely focused on the lace he was crocheting and did not even glance at it.

Watching the horse twitching its eyes and stomping its hooves anxiously, Ming Dai suddenly understood.

Spring had arrived, and the horses were feeling restless too.

It was just that this horse wasn't very smart—none of the humans present looked remotely like someone it could spark a romantic connection with!

amidst Ming Dai's misunderstanding and the horse's disappointment, the head captain led the two of them to the educated youths' private plots.

The private plots for the educated youths had been allocated long ago. Before the new educated youths arrived, the veteran educated youths had already reclaimed the wasteland and planted crops on it.

Before they even reached the plot, a foul odor drifted over. Zhou Sinian skillfully pulled off his headscarf to cover his nose and mouth, pulled another one out from his back basket, and handed it to Ming Dai.

Ming Dai politely declined, holding her nose as she followed the head captain forward.

Some people were already busy working in the fields. Seeing the three of them approaching, they quickly greeted them.

"Head captain, you're here."

It was Fang Mingyang who spoke. Standing at the edge of the field carrying shoulder poles, he should have been fertilizing the soil. In the field, Chen Erhong and Zhou Guiping were sprinkling liquid manure, while other veteran educated youths were digging the earth.

Liu Dachun smiled amiably: "Comrade Fang, I brought Little Comrade Ming and Comrade Zhou here to choose their private plot."

Upon hearing this, Fang Mingyang's expression froze for a moment, and he forced an awkward smile. "Hehe, it's my failing as the team leader of the educated youth point; I forgot to mention this matter to the new educated youths."

Liu Dachun waved his hand: "It's fine. You go ahead with your work, I'll handle this. Keep busy."

Fang Mingyang's complexion turned even uglier. A minor team leader of the educated youths busier than the village's head captain? What was he busy with, exactly?

That was hard to say.

Watching the receding backs of the three figures, Fang Mingyang regretted his actions. He shouldn't have tried to use the private plots to manipulate Ming Dai.

Liu Dachun was quite satisfied with Fang Mingyang's embarrassment. Serving you right for playing mind games—this old man simply refuses to fall for your tricks!

Year after year, using private plots to manipulate the new educated youths; in previous years he couldn't be bothered to interfere, but trying to scheme against Little Comrade Ming this year? In your dreams!

With a heart no bigger than a needle's tip, you can only scheme over whatever's inside an outhouse. What an ambition!

After bypassing four or five private plots, Liu Dachun stopped and pointed to a plot across the small river, speaking to Ming Dai.

"Little Comrade Ming, don't get mixed up with their mess. I think you should choose this plot right here; it's easy to irrigate."

Ming Dai took a closer look. Indeed, aside from being close to the riverbank, the land was relatively flat, requiring no major cleanup. They could start digging simply by clearing out grass roots and stones.

"Alright, we'll listen to Uncle. We'll take this plot."

Liu Dachun nodded: "Good, then you can clean it up. I'll go have a word with Qingmin and Guokang; nobody in the village will have any objections if it's given to you."

Anyone with objections could just keep it to themselves!

Ming Dai expressed her thanks. After sending off the head captain, she called over Zhou Sinian to start clearing the land together.

Fang Mingyang and Chen Erhong in the neighboring plots frowned deeply as they watched the two working with burning enthusiasm.

In past years, they deliberately delayed the matter of the private plots precisely to allocate less land to the new educated youths.

The amount of private land allocated to the educated youth point was limited, and they were already used to farming it; they didn't want to give it all away.

Once the new educated youths received their land too early and had time to tend to it, they would inevitably start nitpicking, demanding more land, which would naturally leave the veterans with less.

If they only told the newcomers just before collective labor started, the newcomers wouldn't ask for much because they wouldn't have the time to manage it.

In the end, Fang Mingyang sighed: "Let's go back and tell the new educated youths to come divide the private plots."

Chen Erhong watched the pair across the way—one picking up stones, the other digging out grass roots, cooperating with tacit understanding—and her gaze turned somewhat cold.

Thus, shortly thereafter, both new and veteran educated youths arrived at the fields across the small river.

An argument broke out between the new and old educated youths regarding the distribution of the private plots.

Just as Fang Mingyang and Chen Erhong had anticipated, the new educated youths, who had ample time and had experienced the vegetable shortages of winter, refused to yield an inch. They demanded an equal distribution per capita, completely disregarding the fact that these wasteland areas had already been cleared by the veteran educated youths.

The two sides argued all morning, and in the end, while it wasn't an equal split, the new educated youths managed to carve away nearly half of the land, leaving the veteran educated youths burning with anger.

Especially later on, when the new and old educated youths began fighting over the fertilizer from the educated youth point's latrine, leaving Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian utterly shocked.

Literally anything could become something people fought over!

This time, nobody had any objections to Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian opening up extra wasteland. After all, since they weren't taking a share of this side's land, they weren't occupying the educated youth point's quota.

After spending the entire morning arguing in a fragrant dispute, by the afternoon everyone from the educated youth point came to work on their private plots, chattering and bickering noisily.

Especially the new educated youths, who had never dug the earth before and didn't know how to use any tools. While Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian had already finished preparing their wasteland, the newcomers hadn't even managed to break open much topsoil.

It looked like finishing the work before collective labor officially began would be quite difficult.

Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian spent three days planting all the vegetables in their private plot.

They also scattered the fertilizer Ming Dai had fermented over the soil; it wasn't stinky at all, leaving Zhou Sinian quite satisfied.

On the final day, the head captain held a labor mobilization meeting at the threshing floor, officially announcing the arrival of spring plowing.

After it ended, Ming Dai wanted to go to Liu Dazheng's house to retrieve her hat, but Zhou Sinian stopped her.

"Ming Dai, let's go tomorrow. Dazheng said there's still a little bit left to finish."

Ming Dai was speechless: "It's been several days already. Just how big is my head? It should have been woven by now."

Zhou Sinian's eyes rolled, and he didn't answer directly: "Let's go tomorrow, it will be ready tomorrow."

Ming Dai had no choice but to agree, bringing Zhou Sinian back to prepare the tools they would need for work the next day.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Zhou Sinian woke Ming Dai up.

Ming Dai checked the time—it was not even six o'clock.

Ah! She wanted to die!! She hated getting up early!

Dragging her resentment of early mornings downstairs, she watched Zhou Sinian cheerfully bustling about the kitchen, and she truly admired him.

"Ming Dai! Hurry up, we still need to go to Dazheng's house to get the hat after eating."

Ming Dai sighed and sat down at the dining table.

To cope with farm work, Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian had prepared a lot of food in advance and stored it in their spatial warehouse, ready to be taken out whenever they wanted to eat.

Eggs, deep-fried dough sticks, and steamed buns, paired with soy milk and spicy soup that Ming Dai kept in her spatial dimension—they could drink whichever they preferred, making it extremely convenient.

After breakfast, Ming Dai's mood improved significantly. The two of them exited the spatial dimension and walked through the morning mist toward Liu Dazheng's house.

When they arrived at Liu Dazheng's place, he had just woken up as well, waiting at the doorway while yawning continuously.

"Dazheng, we're here. Is the hat ready?"

Liu Dazheng swallowed a yawn: "Ready, ready, it's on the brick bed. Go get it!"

Without a trace of hesitation, Zhou Sinian darted inside and emerged a moment later holding two items.

Ming Dai stared wide-eyed at the things in his hands!

"Zhou Sinian, what on earth is this?!?"